Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Just to let you know that 16 Gwendoline Street is back on shortwave, with
an hour long special celebrating 50 years of Radio Caroline, over here in Europe. I have
been on 1368 medium wave to Central and southern Europe since last year.

Anyway, the program can be heard on Friday 28th March at 1900 UTC on
7290 kHz (also on 1368 in central Europe), and Saturday 29th March at 0900
UTC on 9510.

The flight has gone missing from ATC radar at 1.21
am local time 8 March 2014. Search & Rescue SAR was initially
done within the vicinity of the South China Sea. However, new confirmed
evidence recently revealed has shifted the SAR activities to the vicinity of
Malacca Strait, Andaman Sea, Bay of Bengal and the Indian Ocean. This is a huge
area to cover roughly 21,000 sq km. To date, SAR efforts have the
combined assets from at least 14 countries involving more than 50 aircraft and
30 vessels making it the single largest SAR mission ever.

In light of the multinational effort that is undertaken, and also
in view of the many rumours of the plane crashing or landing in islands within
the SAR area, MARES is calling all ham stations, especially those from the
countries within the search area, to participate in a daily reporting session.
The objective is for ham operators to provide any sightings, information
or evidence that might help the authorities to find the missing MH370. Details
are as follows:

Any urgent message beyond the specified DX session time shall be
communicated via email to emergency@mares.org.my

All information and evidence obtained will be forwarded to the
Malaysian Department of Civil Aviation and Malaysian National Security Council
by MARES.

On behalf of Malaysia, MARES would like to thank in advance all
participating stations for their time and effort in helping us find the missing
9M-MRO / MH370. Let us all do our part in this moment of crisis.

Please do spread this effort to stations and clubs you think
might be helpful in our effort.

Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 17 - 23 March 2014
Solar activity was at low to moderate levels. Low levels were observed from 17-19 March with the majority of the C-class flare activity originating from Regions 2010 (S15, L=202, class/area Dac/180 on 23 March) and 2014 (S14, L=169, class/area Dsc/190 on 23 March). Solar activity reached moderate levels on 20 March due to an isolated M1/1f flare at 20/0356 UTC from Region 2010. The event was associated with a Type II (572 km/s) and Type IV radio sweeps as well as a non Earth-directed coronal mass ejection (CME). Solar activity was once again at low levels on 21 March. By 22 March, moderate levels were reached again with an impulsive M1/1f flare at 22/0702 UTC from Region 2011 (S07, L=280, class/area Dho/300 on 22 March). Low levels returned on 23 March with multiple C-class flares observed including a long duration C5/Sf flare at 23/0348 UTC from Region 2014. Associated with this flare was a CME (estimated speed of 768 km/s) with the majority of the ejecta directed off the east limb, however there appeared to be an Earth-directed component that is expected to arrive late on 25 March to early on 26 March.
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels throughout the period.
Geomagnetic field activity was generally at quiet levels throughout the period with quiet to unsettled periods observed on 21 March due to prolonged periods of southward Bz. By 22 March, a rise in solar wind speed and temperature was observed at the ACE spacecraft just after a solar sector boundary change into a positive (away) sector.

This was indicative of the onset of a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Solar wind speed increased from approximately 350 km/s to 530 km/s and remained near 480 km/s through the end of the period. Total field measurements reached 10 nT initially during the onset of the CH HSS, however it decreased to near 5 nT by 23 March. Only quiet conditions were observed on 22-23
March.
Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 24 March - 19 April 2014
Solar activity is expected to be at low levels with a chance for M-class flares through 25 March and again from 15-19 April. From 26 March through14 April, moderate levels are likely with a chance for X-class flares as old Regions 1996 (N14, L=052) and 2002 (S19, L=326) return to the visible disk.
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit is expected to be at normal to moderate levels.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be at quiet to unsettled conditions on 24-25 March, 30 March-01 April, 09 April, and again on 7 April due to CH HSS activity and recurrent prolonged periods of the southward Bz component. Late on 25 March to early on 26 March, the 23 March CME is expected to deliver a glancing blow to the geomagnetic field causing quiet to active conditions on 26 March.

Friday, March 21, 2014

This week the shortwave radio hobby, has been informed that Voice of Russia will cease all shortwave transmissions on April 1, 2014. That revelation didn't really surprise anyone as this year the station scaled back their presence on shortwave dramatically.

The original statement was posted by Alokesh Gupta at the Cumbre DX Mailing list. It was also reposted by Georgi Bancov on Prime Time SW group, as well as included within the WWDXC Top News 1154 on 21 March, 2014. We thank these individuals for their postings.

Within the hour, Teak Publishing contacted the same individual from Voice of Russia that released the original reply, to obtain a final confirmation and any additional information on the station's future plans. Our reply, from Ms Osipova, stated;" I have already forwarded an inquiry to the VOR Technical Department to obtain an
official confirmation of this information. I will get back to you when I hear
from them."

Did I read that right ? So basically, this confirms once again to the hobby, the left hand of Voice of Russia doesn't know what the right hand is doing. It is inconceivable to believe that within hours - Voice of Russia stated " the Voice of Russia is closing shortwave broadcasts as of April 1st.", followed by "I will get back to you when I hear from them."

So what do we believe ? We have prided ourselves with the friendly working relationship we have shared with the station while associated with Monitoring Times and now Teak Publishing.

One would think, considering the continuing strifes, that Voice of Russia would consider increasing their world listening audience, rather than slam the door.

You be the judge...

Voice of Russia to close down shortwave broadcasts by 1st April,
2014

After several online stories & predictions about closure of
shortwave services by Voice of Russia received this official response
today....

Quote....

Dear Mr Gupta,

This is just a short
message to thank you for your letter and let you know that the Voice of Russia
is closing shortwave broadcasts as of April 1st. Our programs will be available
online at http://voiceofrussia.com/play/

We hope you will stay with the Voice of Russia and hope to hear
from you soon again.

Last weekend’s all-MFSK32 “set
it and forget it” broadcast of VOA Radiogram worked well for most listeners, so
we will do another one this weekend. This time, however, the program includes
six MFSK32 images.

Here is the lineup for VOA
Radiogram, program 51, 22-23 March 2014 (all in MFSK32 centered on 1500 Hz):

The Mighty
KBC (transmitter in Germany) will
broadcast a minute of MFSK64 Saturday at about 1230 UTC on 6095 kHz, and Sunday
at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 7375 kHz. Reception reports to Eric:
themightykbc@gmail.com
.

Amateur radio digital
nets: As KD9XB, I usually check into
the New York NBEMS net Saturday at 10:00 a.m. Eastern (1400Z) on 7036 kHz, and
the Pennsylvania NBEMS net Sunday at 11:00 a.m. Eastern (1500Z) on 7072.5 kHz.
Each is USB, starting with Olivia 8-500 centered on 1500 Hz, then changing to
MFSK32 or other mode for messages.

I have just about finished
responding to VOA Radiogram reception reports from the weekend of 8-9 March, and
will now start on reports from 15-16 March (program 50). Eventually, I will
catch up!

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

In every DX program on the air, in all radio DX magazines, and in the identification announcements from shortwave stations, the technical word kilohertz is used. So today, we ask the question: What is a kilohertz?In the early days of experimental wireless development, it was common practice to calibrate electromagnetic waves by measuring the distance from one crest to the next crest in much the same way as you might measure the waves of the ocean, from one crest to the next. This distance is called the wavelength, and because many of the prominent early experimenters were European, it came to be measured electrically in metres. Thus you will find the dials of most of the very old radio receivers marked in metres. In the medium wave broadcast band, one station in particular might be on the air for example on a wavelength of 200 metres, and another on 300 metres. On shortwave, one station could be shown as 30.99 metres, and another on 30.96 metres.But, there's another way of calibrating a radio signal. Instead of measuring the distance between crests, or length of complete wave cycles, you can count how many of those complete cycles pass a fixed point in one second. This is known as the frequency.The existence of electromagnetic waves was first demonstrated by German physicist Heinrich Hertz, and in 1930 the International Electrotechnical Commission, or IEC, established the unit of frequency of one cycle per second as being one Hertz, in his honor. This is abbreviated with a capital H and a small z.Following standard metric usage, a frequency of 1,000 cycles per second, or 1,000 Hz, is thus equal to 1 kilohertz.As time went by, it was discovered that measuring a radio signal by its frequency in kilohertz was more accurate and easier to express than its wavelength in metres. In addition, as the broadcast bands became more crowded, it was decided by international convention to adopt on mediumwave a 10 kilohertz separation between channels in the western hemisphere, and a 9 kilohertz separation in the rest of the world, including longwave in Europe. On shortwave, where signals have a narrower bandwidth, a 5 kHz separation between channels was adopted globally.In spite of this, however, radio stations in Europe continued to announce their spot on the MW or LW dial in metres, right up until June 1984. During that month, they switched to using kilohertz instead, like most other regions had already done.There is an inverse relationship between metres and kilohertz of 1:300,000. You can divide the wavelength in metres, or the frequency in kilohertz, into 300,000, and obtain the reciprocal.As an example, for a shortwave station such as WWV which broadcasts on 10,000 kilohertz, you can divide 10,000 into 300,000 and see that its wavelength is 30 metres (just above the 31 metre broadcast band). Decades ago when I lived in the London area, the BBC had a 150 kW mediumwave transmitter there on 330 metres carrying Radio 4. Today that same transmitter now carries Radio 5 Live. You can divide 330 into 300,000 and see that the frequency being used is 909 kilohertz.Sometimes, instead of kilohertz, you might find a radio station channel designated in megahertz. Longwave and mediumwave stations always use kilohertz, and VHF (FM) stations always use megahertz. When you hear that a station is on 89.9 FM, the frequency being used is actually 89.9 megahertz. But on the shortwave bands, between the mediumwave and FM bands, both kilohertz and megahertz are used.To convert back and forth between kilohertz and megahertz, all you need to do is move the decimal point by three places, remembering that 1,000 kilohertz equals 1 megahertz. Thus for example, the shortwave channel 30.99 metres can be expressed as either 9680 kilohertz, or 9.68 megahertz.

The standard abbreviations for these three radio terms are expressed in this way:Metresm Small mKilohertzkHz Small k, capital H, and small zMegahertzMHz Capital M, capital H, and small z
(AWR/Wavescan NWS 264)

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Some time ago, the BBC announced that
they plan to close their Indian Ocean Relay Station at the end of the month,
Saturday March 29.This station has been
on the air for more than a quarter century and it will end its international
shortwave service, though the local FM relay stations will still remain on air.

As
a tribute to the lengthy service provided from this important radio station, we
are planning to present two topics here in Wavescan. Next week, you will hear the story of the BBC
Indian Ocean Relay Station; and this week, we present the story, Five in a Row,
the steps leading up to the erection of their relay station in the Seychelles
Islands.

Back
at the end of last year, we presented the story of the temporary BBC relay
station located at Francistown in
Botswana, Africa. This station was
hurriedly pieced together in an effort to counter the political events in
neighboring Rhodesia, and it was officially identified as the BBC Central
Africa Relay Station.

Four
transmitters were installed, two mediumwave Continentals at 50 kW each from the
United States, and two shortwave Marconis at 10 kW each from England. This station was taken into service on
December 30, 1965, and its last day of on air service was March 31, 1968.

Around
the time when the station was closing, a question was raised in the British
Parliament in London regarding this BBC Central Africa Relay Station. According to the Hansard Report, it was
stated that the Francistown station was closing, and that additional antenna
systems were under installation at the BBC Relay Station on Ascension Island. These new antennas would ensure, it was stated,
adequate shortwave coverage into Rhodesia.
This of course, would form only a temporary interim service into
Rhodesia.

In
June 1966, the BBC was investigating the possibility of utilizing a large ship
as a BBC relay station for radio coverage into East Africa. The ship that they were looking at was a
redundant aircraft carrier, HMS “Leviathan”.

The
good ship “Leviathan” was laid down at Tynside in England on October 18, 1943
as a nuclear powered aircraft carrier for use in the latter part of World War
2. This ship, uncompleted, was launched
on June 7, 1945, just as World War 2 was coming to an end, and it simply lay
around awaiting its destiny. But, it was
never fully completed.

At
the time when the BBC was investigating the possibility of taking the ship over
as a relay broadcasting station, the suggestion was to have it stationed in the
Mozambique Channel and that it would give radio coverage into Rhodesia and
South Africa on behalf of the BBC. At
the time, Rhodesia had made a unilateral declaration of independence, UDI, and
the South African government was a strong supporter of the Smith administration
in the former British colony.

It
does seem at least mildly hypocritical that all this was going on at the same
time that the BBC was complaining back home about the existence of unlicensed
off shore stations on board ships and forts around the British Isles.

It
is probable that this mobile shipboard radio station would transmit on
mediumwave towards East Africa, though shortwave could later be
considered. However, this radio project
never materialized, and the entire concept was scrapped in May 1966. Two years later, the empty and uncompleted
aircraft carrier “Leviathan” itself was sold, and scrapped.

However,
around the same time, the BBC was also investigating the possibility of
establishing a large relay station on the island of Aldabra for broadcast into
East Africa. Aldabra is a tiny
uninhabited atoll 500 miles off the coast of Africa, 300 miles north of
Madagascar, and 500 miles from Zanzibar.
The only personnel on the island are a few officials, caretakers and
research officers.

The
Aldabra atoll is 21 miles long, 8 miles wide and it is the second largest
raised coral reef in the world. This
atoll is made up of four small islets around a shallow lagoon, though no fresh
water is available. There are many
unique forms of life in the area, including an estimated 100,000 Giant
Tortoises.

Back
in 1966, the Royal Air Force was giving consideration to establishing an air
base on Aldabra, and the American air force was interested in a joint
collaboration with the RAF as a refueling station for American planes en route
to Vietnam. American investment in the
project would amount to

$11 million.

In
1966, the BBC chartered a 600 ton coastal vessel from Mombassa, the “Southern
Skies” for a six week exploratory expedition to Aldabra. The BBC survey party was in contact London
via a shortwave SSB transmitter on the ship, and the BBC communicated with the
ship via one of the high powered shortwave transmitters at Daventry. However, due to the incursion of tropical
storm Angela, the survey expedition to Aldabra was cut short, and this project
too was abandoned.

If
the Aldabra project had materialized, it was envisioned that four high powered
mediumwave transmitters at 750 kW each would be installed with four independent
directional antenna systems beamed westwards towards Africa. These transmitters would be operated
separately, or in pairs, or all with combined power on one mediumwave channel. Though not stated, if this station had been
installed, it is probable that shortwave coverage would be added
subsequently.

However,
the British/American air force base never became a reality, so neither did the
BBC relay station.

The
next project in this sequence was the BBC relay station in the Seychelles
Islands, and that of course, is our opening topic in Wavescan next week. So, what then were the Five in a Row? Here is the list:-

1.
The temporary BBC relay station at Francistown in Botswana, 1965 - 1968

2.
Installation of an antenna system at the BBC relay station on Ascension Island
for coverage into
Rhodesia on shortwave, 1968

3.
Possible usage of HMS “Leviathan” as a relay station in the Mozambique Channel,
1966

Quite recently,
Jose Jacob VU2JOS in Hyderabad India sent us an email message in which he
alerted us regarding the possible closure of VUC, the current shortwave station
in Kolkata. He stated that the shortwave
transmitter at Kolkata was scheduled to close down on February 22 as per orders
from the headquarters of All India Radio in Delhi. However, the technical employees union in
Kolkata protested this decision, and so the shortwave station still remains on
the air, though for how much longer is uncertain.

Two matters arise out of this
information: -

1. If you do not yet have QSLs
verifying the Indian regional shortwave stations, you should send
reception reports to them while they are still on the air; it is known that all
of these

analog shortwave transmitters in India
will one day be closed in favor of digital transmitters.

2. As Jose Jacob suggested,
now would be an appropriate time to present a complete Station
Profile on AIR Calcutta. So, here we go!

The city of
Calcutta is located on the east bank of the Hooghly River, a branch of the
Ganges River in the delta area, some 60 miles inland from the Bay of
Bengal. Back in the era before the
arrival of the British, there were just three small villages in the area:-

Kolikata:
a small fishing village

Sutanuti:
a small weaving village

Govindapur

The
British East India Company was established in the area in 1690 and they bought
the areas embracing the three villages, and thus the name Kolikata became the
name for what became the entire city. In
its Anglicized version, Kolikata became the very familiar Calcutta. Several different origins have been suggested
for the original meaning of the name Calcutta and it would appear that the most
logical would be that Kolikata, in the early Bengali language, meant the field
of the goddess Kali.

In
the days of strife between the colonial British and the local Bengali people,
Calcutta became notorious for what is called the Black Hole of Calcutta, a
small prison in which many prisoners died overnight some 2½ centuries ago. In 1773 Calcutta became the national capital
of all India, a title that it held for more than 1¼ centuries; Delhi became the
national capital in 1911.

India’s
first newspaper the Bengal Gazette was printed in Calcutta in 1780; the first
Christian missionary William Carey arrived in Calcutta in 1793; Calcutta was
the 2nd largest city in the British Empire in the year 1900 (with
London as the largest); the national anthems for both India and Bangladesh were
composed in Calcutta by the nobel laureate Rabindranath Tagore; the city name
was changed from the English Calcutta to the Bengali Kolkata in 2001; the port
of Kolkata stretches for 20 miles on both sides of the river; and these days
14.1 million people live in greater Kolkata, the 3rd largest city in
India.

Among
the many tourist attractions in Kolkata are the ornate Victoria Memorial that
was designed in the style of the Taj Mahal; the city zoo in which successful
cross breeding between tigers and lions has been achieved; and the huge Banyan
Tree more than 250 years old and covering more than 4 acres.

Most
of the early wireless experiments in India took place in the Calcutta area and
it was back in the year 1849, more than 1½ centuries ago, that the first
wireless experiments were undertaken by Dr. Sir William O’Shaughnessy,
Superintendent of Telegraphs. He
successfully transmitted wireless signals across the Huldee River ¾ mile wide
with a wire along each bank of the river, and a metal plate at the end of each
wire immersed in the water.

It
seems that each succeeding Electrician in Calcutta conducted similar
experiments and next came Mr. Blissett.
In 1858, he conducted similar wireless experiments with the use of a
long wire on each bank of a river and in this way achieved fair success.

Mr.
Winter followed and he made some astute observations regarding cross modulation
of Morse signals between parallel telegraph wires on the same poles in
1873. Three years later, Mr. Schwendler
carried out similar cross-river communications across the River Hooghly at
Barrackpore, near Calcutta, using parallel wires with metal plates submerged in
the water.

Mr.
W. P. Johnston was next and he repeated the same experiments across a nearby
waterway 200 yards wide on September 9, 1879.
Nine years later, he carried out many similar experiments across nearby
canals in the Calcutta area, and also across the River Hooghly itself.

Mr.
Melhuish, was next and he discovered that the wires lying on the bank on each
side of the river need to be at least as long as the river is wide in order to
achieve reliable communication.

The
first experimental work on the transmission and reception of radio signals in
India was carried out by Dr. Sir Jagadish Chandra Bose. Towards the end of the year 1894, Bose began
his experimentation with wireless, and in November 1895 he gave a public
demonstration in the Calcutta Town Hall with Bengal’s Lieutenant Governor Sir
William Mackenzie in attendance.

In
this public demonstration, Bose transmitted wireless signals at a wavelength of
just ½ inch over a distance of 75 ft through several solid walls. He also used a wireless signal to ring a bell
at a distance, and to fire a gun remotely.

India’s
first wireless station was established just three years later (1902) and this
was installed at Sandheads on Saugor Island out in the Bay of Bengal. The original callsign for this station was
ROS, though when regular international callsigns were mandated worldwide, this
call was amended to VWS.

During
this same era, another wireless station was installed in the area, though this
time much closer to Calcutta itself.
This station was licensed under the callsign VWC and it was installed a
little northeast of the city itself.
When radio replaced wireless, a new location was chosen, just north of
Calcutta.

Station
VWC is still in use today, around a century after its original installation and
it was noted a few years ago with time signals for which QSL cards were issued.

That’s
as far as we go in the Calcutta story today, but in two weeks time, we plan to
present the story of early experimental radio broadcasting.

At the Vilnius summit of the Eastern Partnership in November 2013, Moldova initialled its Association Agreement with the EU, including a Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Area (DCFTA) agreement, and is expected to sign the documents before the end of August 2014.

Meanwhile, Russia has increased its presence and pressure in the region, as a consequence of which Armenia declined the AA and DCFTA with the EU and Ukraine, after months of protests and political paralysis, now has part of its territory occupied by Russia. Moldova is no exception to Russian pressure. As the country gets closer to upgrading relations with the EU, Russia has increased its activities in Moldova, including in the autonomous region of Gagauzia and in the breakaway region of Transnistria.

Product: Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
Issued: 2014 Mar 17 0446 UTC
Prepared by the US Dept. of Commerce, NOAA, Space Weather Prediction Center
Product description and SWPC web contact www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly.html
Weekly Highlights and Forecasts
Highlights of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 10 - 16 March 2014
Solar activity was at moderate levels to begin the week. On 10 March, Region 2002 (S19, L=326 class/area Ekc/380 on 13 Mar) produced three M-class events, the largest an M1 at 10/1528 UTC. Region 1996 (N14, L=052 class/area Eac/220 on 12 Mar) also produced an M1/Sf that day at 10/2300 UTC followed by an M3/1f at 11/0348 UTC. Region 1991 (S24, L=093 class/area Eki/370 on 02 Mar) produced
an M1 flare at 11/1207 UTC. Region 1996 produced two more M-class events on 12 Mar, to include an M9/Sb at 12/2234 UTC, bringing activity to high levels for that day. Moderate levels returned on 13 Mar when Region 1996 produced an M1 at 13/1919 UTC before rotating around the west limb. Solar activity was at low levels for the remainder of the period. The largest C-class event recorded during that time was a C7/Sf at 16/0645 UTC from Region 2003 (N05, L=013 class/area Eac/200 on 15 Mar). Between 13/0001 - 0154 UTC an approximately 6 degree long filament, centered near S18W60, lifted off the disk in SDO/AIA imagery but was determined not to be geoeffective. A 14 degree filament centered near N12E17 disappeared between 14/1454 - 1746 UTC, but was also determined not to be Earth-directed. Finally, a 30 degree filament centered near S22E50 erupted between 16/0235 - 0323 UTC but model data indicated it was too far south of the ecliptic to be geoeffective.
No proton events were observed at geosynchronous orbit.
The greater than 2 MeV electron flux at geosynchronous orbit was at normal levels throughout the period.
Geomagnetic field activity was mostly quiet with the exception of 13 Mar. Minor storm levels were reached in the first synoptic period followed by active and then unsettled conditions for the first half of the day due to a solar sector boundary change and a positive polarity coronal hole high speed stream (CH HSS). Quiet conditions returned my midday 13 Mar and quiet levels prevailed for the rest of the period.
Forecast of Solar and Geomagnetic Activity 17 March - 12 April 2014
Solar activity is expected to be low with a chance for M-class activity through 26 Mar. Moderate levels are likely with a slight chance for X-class activty from 26 Mar through the remainder of the period as old Region 1996 (N14, L=052) returns to the visible disk followed by the return of Region 2002 (S19, L=326).
No proton events are expected at geosynchronous orbit.
Geomagnetic field activity is expected to be quiet to unsettled on 17 - 18 Mar due to anticipated CH HSS activity. Mostly quiet conditions are expected from 19 - 29 Mar. Quiet to unsettled conditions are expected from 30 Mar to 01 Apr due to recurrent negative Bz. The remainder of the period is expected to be quiet
with the exception of 09 Apr, which is expected to see quiet to unsettled conditions due to effects from a recurrent CH HS.

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Thank you for your reception reports for VOA Radiogram program
49, during the weekend of 8-9 March 2014. Because of various distractions this
week, I will not be able to respond to those reports until early next week.

Last weekend's experiment with center audio frequencies was very useful.
We learned that most of you were able to decode MFSK32 using a fixed audio
frequency of 1500 Hz, even if the the actual received audio frequency was
anywhere from about 10 Hz above or below 1500 Hz. This means that a simple
MFSK32 decoding app would not require an RxID.

VOA Radiogram 50, during
the weekend of 15-16 March 2014, will be an all-MFSK32 "set it and forget it"
show. All of the text and images will be in MFSK32, centered on 1500 Hz. No need
to change modes during the show. Here is the lineup:

1:38 Program preview
(now) 2:33 Internet future 9:36 Beet juice against ice on
highways, with image17:24 American art at the Phillips
Collection, with image27:42 Closing
announcements

This
weekend, use your RxID. The RSID for MFSK32 at 1500 Hz will be transmitted at
the beginning and about half way through the program. Let me know what your
actual received center audio frequency is.

The Mighty KBC, via Germany, will again transmit
a minute of MFSK64 Saturday, 15 March, at about 1230 UTC, on 6095 kHz, and
Sunday, 16 March, at about 0130 UTC (Saturday 9:30 pm EDT) on 7375 kHz. This
will include The Mighty KBC weekend schedule as an Flmsg table. To make Flmsg
work with Fldigi, in Fldigi: Configure > Misc > NBEMS -- Under Reception
of flmsg files, check both boxes, and under that indicate where your Flmsg.exe
file is located. At the end of the digital text transmission, you will see the
small Flmsg box pop up, followed by the schedule as a new window in your default
web browser. Please send reception reports to Eric at themightykbc@gmail.com
.

Even though I am behind with my emails, I look forward to your
reports this weekend.

The small island of Corregidor lies at
the entrance to Manilla Bay in the Philippines.
The island is shaped like a tadpole and it is four miles long, and 1½
miles wide at its widest point.The name
Corregidor is Spanish, meaning Chief Magistrate, Mayor.

During
the crucial times as the Japanese armies were moving towards Manila, there were
11,000 American and Filipino personnel on the island. The voluminous Malinta Tunnel had been
excavated beneath 200 feet of rock and it contained a 1,000 bed hospital. When General Douglas MacArthur evacuated from
Manila, he established his temporary headquarters in a side passageway in
Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor Island.

It
was on December 10, 1941, that the Japanese air force bombed the United States
navy base at Cavite, just three days after Pearl Harbor. Ten days later the Marines were ordered to
evacuate Cavite; and on January 2, 1942, Cavite was totally evacuated except
for medical personnel and patients in the hospital.

In
the meantime, American forces had also retreated into the Bataan Peninsula, a
peninsula 50 miles long and 15 miles wide, jutting into Manila Bay just
opposite Corregidor Island. Some radio
programming was broadcast from Bataan with the use of army and commercial radio
equipment.

It is understood that the radio
broadcasting transmitter in use on this occasion was a 1 kW mobile unit
licensed under the callsign KZRB which was owned by the former FEBC Far East
Broadcasting Company (not related to the subsequent/current FEBC) in
Manila. The American army took this
transmitter over for use mainly as a relay station for the programming from
shortwave KGEI in San Francisco.

These transmissions from KZRB Bataan
contained mainly news and information, sometimes produced locally and sometimes
on relay from elsewhere including the Voice of Freedom Radio on
Corregidor. This station was heard in
Australia at times on 11850 11940 or 15545 kHz.
The American forces on Bataan surrendered on April 9, 1942 and mobile
KZRB was silenced.

In
December 1941, a 1 kW shortwave transmitter had been removed from the
commercial radio broadcasting station KZRH in Manila and re-installed in
Malinta Tunnel on Corregidor Island.
Additional radio equipment, including mobile transmitters from elsewhere
throughout Manila, was hurriedly collected and also transferred to Corregidor
Island.

The
United States army blew up all private and commercial broadcasting equipment in
the Manila area including all of the large transmitters, as well as the newly
imported American equipment so recently installed for mediumwave and shortwave
station KZRM. Studios and papers and
documents throughout the city were also hurriedly destroyed.

The
Malinta Tunnel also contained a bevy of radio equipment for use in
communicating with Philippine regiments throughout the islands and also with
forces headquarters in Australia, Hawaii and the United States. The 1 kW shortwave transmitter previously on
the air in Manila was installed in Malinta Tunnel along with a make-shift
studio, and it was placed into use as a radio broadcasting station with antenna
systems directly above, on top of Malinta Hill.

The
new “Voice of Freedom” was inaugurated at 6:00 pm on Monday January 5, 1942
with a recorded version of the Star Spangled Banner, followed by opening
announcements and news in English from Carlos Romulo, the previous General
Manager of FEBC. This FEBC was a
commercial organization, and as just mentioned, it was not related to the
subsequent religious FEBC organization in Manila. The initial English station announcement from
the Voice of Freedom was followed by similar information in the Tagalog
language presented by Francisco Isadoro.

The
main frequency for the shortwave Freedom Radio was 9645 kHz, though other
nearby channels were taken at varying times in order to avoid Japanese
jamming. The Japanese reactivated
station KZRH at its original location in Manila, and a broadcasting war took
place between them and the Voice of Freedom Radio. The KZRH operating channel was nearby 9640
kHz.

Soon
after the Voice of Freedom was launched, one of the radio personnel on
Corregidor went surreptitiously back into Manila and climbed into the revived
KZRH via a fire escape ladder and stole some more equipment, including a
recording of the Philippine national anthem.

This
new and relatively low powered shortwave Voice of Freedom Radio was heard far
and wide, throughout the Philippines and beyond; in Australia, New Zealand,
Hawaii and the continental United States.
Another broadcasting station in the Philippines, KZRC in Cebu, regularly
relayed the off air programming from the Voice of Freedom Radio via their own
transmitters on 1200 kHz mediumwave and 6105 kHz shortwave, both at 1 kW
each. This tandem relay ended on April
9, 142, at the time when the American forces on Bataan surrendered.

Although
the Voice of Freedom did its best back then during the tragic events of 1942,
yet there was some dissatisfaction on the part of its listeners. Some locals described the station as the
Voice of Boredom, due to a lack of variety in programming and poor quality
production. Another writer stated that
the hopeful slant in their news bulletins lacked reality and sounded hollow.

Interestingly,
there was another clandestine radio station during this same era. Radio transmission equipment was installed in
a hidden area in the art deco Jai Alai sports building on Taft Avenue, Manila
and this was activated in an attempt to obtain discreet communication with
Corregidor. However, this transmitter in
Manila was on the air with no more than a few experimental test transmissions.

On
Wednesday May 6, the American General Wainwright made a broadcast over the
Voice of Freedom in which he addressed the Japanese military governor, General
Masaharu Homma, requesting surrender.
This broadcast was on the air three times in English, with a follow-on
translation in Japanese, at 10:30 am, 11:00 am and finally 11:45 am. Next day just before midnight, the surrender
was implemented.

Before
the American surrender on Corregidor, most of the radio equipment in Malinta
Tunnel was destroyed. However, the 1 kW
shortwave transmitter on the air previously as KZRH in Manila